(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures which appear on the upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agenda. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.)

By Kevin Ueda
Special to the Daily Press

CITY HALL — Elected officials are expected to spend more than $1.3 million tonight on various agreements and contracts, the most expensive of which — at $580,197 — will go towards revamping one of the city’s parking structures.

According to city staff, two agenda items — a modification to an agreement with the county of Los Angeles for the use of 325 parking spots at the Civic Auditorium, and the purchase of 100 percent renewable energy from a different company — are intended to increase revenue for the city by close to $510,000.

Among the other items Council will vote on relate to the purification of the Santa Monica Bay, , new equipment for the police department and outsourcing services for waste management.

A SENSE OF STRUCTURE

A parking structure’s alleys will be made safer and its bathroom lines shorter, that is, if its design goes as planned.

City Council plans to modify a contract with the Black and Veatch Corporation to improve the design of parking structure No 4, located on 2nd Street between Arizona Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. The new and improved design, at $120,197, brings the total amount of the design contract to its maximum of $851,697, according to a city staff report.

Changes to the structure will include a new central bathroom, with 26 stalls — 13 for men, 13 for women — as well as a “state-of-the-art” trash bin room, to feature 13 trash bins and other amenities geared towards creating a better experience for pedestrians in the alley.

The structure’s larger bathrooms and trash room will require that the storage-and-maintenance room there presently be moved to parking structure No. 2, located one block north on 2nd Street, between Arizona Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.

Further, structure No. 4 is slated to have larger headroom clearance over the lobby entrance near the alley to provide greater visibility for the sake of pedestrian security.

Creating a new central restroom has for years been a high priority of the Bayside District, which manages downtown Santa Monica in conjunction with City Hall, according to the staff report.

THE ELECTRIC SWITCH

Switching electric providers may just provide a shocking amount of savings for the city.

The City Council recommends purchasing renewable energy from Commerce Energy to power city facilities from July 1 to June 30, 2007, which will save an estimated $250,000 per year, according to staff reports.

The agreement contract will replace contracts with Southern California Edison, whose electricity is 17 percent from renewable sources.

In 2005, the city spent a total of $2.5 million to power city facilities and municipal operations.

BROWN BAGGIN’ IT FOR REAL

Calling all packrats: No less than $25,000 could be forwarded to support a nonprofit agency that teaches how to design art with recyclable materials, according to a city staff report.

Environmental and Public Works Management, along with Community and Cultural Services, will partner with nonprofit agency Rediscover to apply for funding to the California Waste Management Board’s Reuse Assistance Program. The agencies will create a sustainable arts program that will provide recyclable materials from city-based businesses to city youth programs, teachers in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and Santa Monica artists.

The city is required to match at least 50 percent of Rediscover’s grant amount, $50,000, through city staff support of the program.

Rediscover will host informational workshops, design and produce marketing and education materials and train the school district teachers. Funds will also go toward financing Rediscover’s staff efforts to collect materials, including cloth, plastic forms, wood scraps and other materials from participating companies.

WASTE A LOT, WANT NOT

One city’s waste became another company’s treasure.

The City Council is looking to approve a two-year contract with General Environment Management, Inc. in the amount of $200,000 for the transportation of its hazardous waste, according to staff reports.

The city’s hazardous waste comes from emergency response, municipal activities and the Household and Small Business Hazardous Waste Collection Center, which serves residents.

The contract would go into effect July 1.

CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?

With old equipment only getting older, and its force numbers steadily increasing, the Santa Monica Police Department is looking for City Council to provide it with $182,700 worth of new radios for officers and vehicles. The costs should cover 45 Motorola radios, according to the staff report.

The department uses radios with encrypted frequencies, available only from Motorola, Inc., which will cost $80,000 and $2,700 in maintenance. A city municipal code allows exceptions to competitive bidding when proprietary items are bought from a manufacturer.

The remaining $100,000 will be financed through asset seizure funds.

In the fiscal year of 2005-06, the police department hired two officers, five park rangers and added three vehicles for its staff. To accommodate the extra officers, the department said it needed extra portable radios and radios for police cars, as well as the replacement of 35 radios due to their age and lack of replaceable parts.

A WATERSHED MOMENT

In the hopes of reducing pollution and runoff in the Santa Monica Bay, the City Council will hire an outside company to evaluate one of its sub-watershed facilities.

An $88,600 probe — the Santa Monica Municipal Airport Sub-Watershed Evaluation Study — will identify ways to evaluate and rank runoff and pollution control at the airport’s watershed, located near Pico Boulevard and 18th Street. The watershed will be the first of 13 in the city to have its business management practices evaluated and made consistent with the city’s watershed management plan.

CHIPPING IN FOR ST. JOE’S

The City Council is planning to approve a one-time $75,000 donation to match contributions from Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles for The St. Joseph Homeless Services Center in Venice.

The center, one of two on the Westside, serves 3,000 homeless individuals per year — 53 percent of whom come from Santa Monica.

The city of Los Angeles recently committed $100,000, and the county $86,000.

PARK PLACE BECOMES A BETTER BUY

The altering of license agreements from two decades ago may increase parking revenue for the city by $259,599 per year.

The City Council seeks a second modification to a license agreement from 1989 for the use of 325 parking spaces in the Civic Auditorium parking lot, at a license fee at $7.27 per space, according to city staff reports.

The Civic Auditorium provides parking for city employees, county employees, jurors, visitors to the courthouse, City Hall and Samohi special events.

The modification will simplify operations and policies for parking, including a provision for 25 reserved parking spots, limited used of the lot after permitted hours and an agreement for the county to pay for employee keycards.

A CLEAN SWEEP FOR PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY

The City Council has reassigned all janitorial duties at the Public Safety Facility from its former custodians to an outside vendor that offered the lowest prices and whose employees can pass various legal requirements, according to a staff report.

About $210, 110 is allocated for a contract with Los Angeles Cha Maintenance, who will provide janitorial services for the facility for one year, beginning July 1.

In February, the city reassigned all non-jail Public Safety Facility custodians to other city buildings, opting to outsource all janitorial services to an outside vendor, according to a staff report. The city invited bids from 58 companies, with 19 responding.

By contrast, the next most inexpensive company’s bid was $243,667, and the most expensive was $708,627.

Bids were evaluated on price, experience, responsiveness to bid requirements — which includes a company’s ability to provide employees who pass the Department of Justice written test and a Santa Monica Police Department background check.